Pregnancy involves waiting.  Nine months of waiting to be exact… but more precisely: waiting rooms – many, many waiting rooms – at midwife, GP and scan appointments – which are dull to say the least.

To spice up hours of W.A.I.T.I.N.G, download Pimp my Ultrasound – a new fun iPhone app that allows you to ‘funk up’ your baby’s ultrasound picture with cool images and graphics.

Adorn your baby’s ultrasound with some sunglasses, a guitar and microphone, or create a ‘Future Athlete with a helmet and football. There are hats, accessories and customisable speech bubbles – whatever floats your boat.

Check out the most popular pimp features available on the fun iPhone app:

Hats/headgear:
- Baseball caps
- Bows
- Football helmets
- Santa Clause hats
- Tiaras

And more…

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Blue is for boys, pink is for girls. And I guess that yellow and green are neutral?

Boring!

Is it just me or are other mums tired of peaches and pastels for babies?

Okay… so did you know that you can ‘own a colour’? Yup, it’s true (roll with me here, I have a point). Thousands of Brits have taken part in the new global Own A Colour fundraising initiative aimed at raising crucial funds for UNICEF (the world’s leading children’s organisation).

Which, of course, is all very nice. But what is really interesting is what the twist on gender stereotypes revealed by the campaign.

Men are turning tradition on its head by ditching blue shades in favour of red hues. And yellow and green were the least favoured colours…FYI.

Granted – red is still pretty masculine but then again, think red rose, little red dress, red lipstick… feminine as well I think. It seems that the indoctrination our babies in the art of gender stereotyping is not working all that well. Yay!

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Breastfeeding is cool. Except for the way in which it limits one’s wardrobe.

When I was breastfeeding my baby girl, practicality ensured that more than half the clothes I own were off limits.

And I am not a fan of practical dressing. Neither am I a fan of ‘breastfeeding attire’ – nothing ever suits my vibe. So I sacrificed my style for ten months.

BUT, and I am very happy to report this BUT, designer Liz Jeans has launched a funky, retro-style breastfeeding range. The long and short-sleeved T-shirts are pretty simple in style but feature amazing graphics, which totally ups the ‘cool mum’ factor.

The tees are two shirts in one. The top t-shirt is just like a regular tee, and below is a hidden under vest with nursing openings on both sides.

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Baby brain: it happens when you’re pregnant and continues for the next 18 years (possibly ever – children are permanent after all) in the form of ‘mummy mush brain’.

It’s a disease of the mind that is rooted in preoccupation, and unless you are really good at compartmentalising thoughts ‘baby brain’ will take over at one point or another.

The good news is: there IS a solution! It’s called the ‘Pregnancy Planner’ and is the creation of Organised Mum. Combat the chaos in your mind by using the planner to keep track of all those important milestones during your pregnancy.

The Pregnancy Planner is perennial, so it can be started as soon you find out you are pregnant and it carries on throughout your pregnancy, including weeks 41 and 42 (when you’re just waiting, wishing and hoping…).

The Pregnancy Planner includes 120 colourful stickers that you can use to highlight important dates such as first movement, midwife visits and blood tests. There is also space to track appointments, scans and hospital visits as well as space to note ideas, plans and photos.

Add in photos of your growing belly and record milestones and special events in the pregnancy planner. There are also pages to plan the nursery, create shopping lists and write down what you need in your hospital bag.

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For the last few months, in my house, we have been using Father Christmas’s influence to keep our little ones on the straight and narrow.

Since about October, we were telling stories of how Santa can see and hear everything they are doing and saying, and will take a present off the list for every episode of bad behaviour, and how even if he can’t be there to see it personally, his little helpers – the birds and animals all around – will be keeping an eye out and reporting back.

Even into January, we can keep this going, because the promise of Christmas and presents and the evidence of Santa and Rudolph’s visit (half eaten mince pie and carrots, completely empty glass of wine) are still fresh in their little minds.

But within a few weeks, Christmas will be a distant memory, so a new tactic will be needed – and this is when we turn to birthdays.

The promise of a birthday party with princess dresses, cakes and party games carries a lot of weight – I know this because every time I displease my 4-year old daughter with anything as trivial as asking her to clean her teeth a little more thoroughly than can be done in 4 seconds, I am told in no uncertain terms that if I’m not nicer to her, I won’t be invited to her party (despite the fact that I will be hosting and paying for it!)

But as we know, with great power comes great responsibility, and planning the perfect children’s birthday party these days is in danger of being up there with planning the perfect wedding.

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